Beamer presentations using pandoc, markdown, LaTeX, and a makefile

This post discusses the creation of beamer presentations using a combination of markdown, pandoc, and LaTeX. This workflow offers the potential to reduce typing and increase readability of beamer presentation source code. Source code for an example presentation is provided containing markdown and LaTeX source code along with a makefile for building the beamer PDF.

Converting Sweave LaTeX to knitr LaTeX: A case study

The following post documents the steps I needed to take in order to convert a project using Sweave LaTeX into one using knitr LaTeX.

Transition to Linux and Ubuntu: The Experience of a Quantitative Social Scientist

This post discusses my experience migrating to Ubuntu from Windows from the perspective of a quantitatively oriented researcher in psychology. It discusses (a) my general transition to open source tools for doing research; (b) examination of Cygwin; (c) choosing a Linux distribution; (d) preparing for installation of Ubuntu; (e) initial reflections on installing Ubuntu; and (f) a long list of various solutions to specific problems that I encountered whilst getting started with Ubuntu.

Video of Reproducible Research with R: Melbourne R Users 1st Dec 2010

As previously mentioned I gave a talk at Melbourne R Users Group titled "Reproducible Research and R Workflow". It covered technologies including LaTeX, Sweave, R, make, Eclipse, and git. This post shares the video.

R Workflow: Slides from a Talk at Melbourne R Users (1st Dec 2010)

I gave a presentation at Melbourne R Users on the topic of R Workflow. The presentation covered R code organisation, and useful R related tools including Eclipse, StatET, Git, make, Sweave and LaTeX. Also, the slides from the presentation provide links to four complete examples of using R, Sweave, LaTeX, and make.

Sweave Tutorial 3: Console Input and Output - Multiple Choice Test Analysis

This post provides an example of using Sweave to perform an item analysis of a multiple choice test. It is designed as a tutorial for learning more about using Sweave in a mode where console input and output is displayed. Copies of all source code and the final PDF report is provided.

Sweave Tutorial 2: Batch Individual Personality Reports using R, Sweave, and LaTeX

This post documents an example of using Sweave to generate individualised personality reports based on responses to a personality test. Each report provides information on both the responses of the general sample and responses of the specific respondent. All source code is provided, and selected aspects are discussed, including makefiles use of \Sexpr, figures, and LaTeX tables using Sweave.

Getting Started with Git, EGit, Eclipse, and GitHub: Version Control for R Projects

This post provides information on
(a) installing Git using the Eclipse plugin Egit. (b) uploading repositories to GitHub, and (c) links to resources on Git, Git and LaTeX, and Git and R. The focus is on version control for people working on R, Sweave, and LaTeX related projects.

Sweave Tutorial 1: Using Sweave, R, and Make to Generate a PDF of Multiple Choice Questions

In this post I present an example of using Sweave to prepare a PDF of formatted multiple choice questions. More broadly the example shows how to use Sweave to incorporate elements of a database into a formatted LaTeX document. It aims to be useful to anyone wanting to learn more about the almost magical powers of make, Sweave, and R.

makefiles for Sweave, R and LaTeX using Eclipse on Windows

This post provides a brief introduction to make and makefiles. In particular it describes how to set up make on Windows with an emphasis on using make in Eclipse on projects involving R, Sweave, and LaTeX.

Getting Started with Writing Mathematics in LaTeX

LaTeX and mathematics go well together. At the risk of preaching to the converted, this post sets out (a) reasons to learn to write mathematics in LaTeX, (b) a few free internet guides on learning to write mathematics in LaTeX, (c) several internet resources which can facilitate writing mathematics in LaTeX.

Getting Started with Beamer: Tips and Tricks for LaTeX Presentations

This post provides a guide to getting started with Beamer, a popular LaTeX package for preparing slide presentations. The post: (a) Lists some of the benefits of Beamer in comparison to PowerPoint; (b) Links to tutorials and suggestions for learning Beamer for both people who do and do not know LaTeX; (c) Documents problems that I encountered when learning to use Beamer and the solutions that I developed to overcome them.

Simple Beamer Template for Getting Started and Reducing Typing

For those who don't already know, Beamer is a useful package in LaTeX for preparing slide presentations. I have a Beamer template of preamble and slide templates. I found having a template was useful: (a) when first learning Beamer commands, and (b) in order to save typing. Thus, this post shares and explains the template in case it was of interest to others. It includes both my standard preamble and templates for individual slides. It is designed so that it is easy to compile both a presentation and a 2 x 2 handout.

WinEdt 6.0 for LaTeX: Features, Configuration, and Resources

This post discusses my experience with WinEdt 6.0 as a text editor for writing documents in LaTeX. In this post I outline: (a) Why I have chosen to use WinEdt; (b) The role of WinEdt in my workflow; (c) Various customisations of WinEdt which I have found useful; (d) links to additional resources for getting the most out of WinEdt.

Exporting PDFs from JabRef using a Batch File

If you do research, JabRef is a great tool for managing a personal repository of PDFs. JabRef allows you to link your citations with full text PDFs. This post discusses one way of exporting a subset of your PDF repository using JabRef, Excel, and a Windows Batch file. This is useful (copyright permitting) in many situations.
For example:
(a) You need to extract a subset of references for a subject you are teaching.
(b) You need to give a colleague or research student a subset of your references.
(c) You want to transfer a subset of your references to another device or computer.

TeXnicCenter Customisations

Over the last few weeks I've been exploring text editors for writing LaTeX documents. I wrote these notes when I was using TeXnicCenter (version 1.0). I have since switched to using WinEdt for writing LaTeX documents. If you do any substantial writing in LaTeX and you are choosing between free TeXnicCenter and shareware WinEdt, buy WinEdt. I'm planning a post soon on WinEdt. Nonetheless, I thought I'd post these rather rough notes I made while playing around with TeXnicCenter in case they are of interest.

APA Style References in LaTeX

This post discusses my experience getting APA style references in LaTeX. This includes both in-text citations and the end of document references list. It focuses on the use of the apacite package.

Converting a Microsoft Word Document into a LaTeX Document

This post discusses my experience converting a large MS Word document into a LaTeX document using Word-to-LaTeX. Along the way I encountered several challenges. I thought I'd document them in case it may be of interest to others.

Export from Endnote to BibTeX, JabRef, and LaTeX

This post sets out a procedure that I used to migrate a large set of Endnote references in a Word Document to a Latex document with BibTeX references in JabRef. In particular, it sets out (1) how to export an Endnote database into BibTeX format ready for inclusion in a LaTeX document; and (2) how to modify an existing document with Endnote citations into a document that cites the BibTeX database.

Choosing an Auto Generation Pattern for BibTeX Keys in JabRef

This post discusses the issue of choosing a default pattern for the BibTex key generator in JabRef.